You're my Moonpie
by JustTheSpark
Summary: Back when Penny and Sheldon were growing up in Nebraska. Collection of Shenny one-shots. First chapter, Sheldon is slightly OOC. (Used to be called 'Junior Rodeo')
1. Chapter 1

**Junior Rodeo. **

**Chapter One. **

**Summary- Penny is friends with the neighbours. A religious family with a son her age. The boy Sheldon, is smart and nerdy, Penny is pretty and popular. Do opposites attract?**

**AN:/ Hello! This is my first fanfiction on this site, please be nice! (Flames will be deleted) Reviews are very welcome. This idea came to me in church, so I typed it up on my phone. Personally, I don't ship Shenny but someone on my tumblr said I should give it a go. At the moment I'm probably going to leave it as a one-shot but let me know if you think i should extend it. Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Happy reading! **

Penny's POV

"Penelope!" The sound of my fathers voice shook the house awake "Time for Junior Rodeo!" Of course, I almost forgot. I pull myself out of bed and find my father who is happily cooking bacon in the kitchen. "Morning slugger" he calls out as I get into the shower, I mumble good morning as a response. Don't get me wrong I love junior rodeo but why does it have to be so early? I'd do much better if it was in the afternoon. After all, I am only ten and a half. Shower over, I pull on my rodeo outfit and find my father who hands me a bacon roll which I take and eat in a couple of minutes. "You all ready Pen?" My father asks as he loads stuff into the car. "We're taking that weird boy next door with us, Shaun is it? his parents say he needs some fresh air" I look up at him. "It's Sheldon" I snap "and he's not weird, he's just not like us, that's all" Now it was my fathers turn to do the staring. An awkward silence and I mumble "I'll go knock for him then" and I walk down the path to his house.

I take a deep breath before I knock, I don't know why I'm not nervous, why should I be? It's just Sheldon. I knock twice then wait. Missy, Sheldon's twin sister answers the door. She's my best friend at school but today she told be she has dance rehearsals. "I'm here for Sheldon" I blurt out and she nods before disappearing up the stairs, leaving me standing at her front door. Thankfully, Mrs Cooper comes to the door and smiles when she sees me "Penny dear, are you here for my Shelly? I just sent him to get dressed" She pulls me in for a big, warm hug "How've you been dear, has God been treating y'all nicely?" She smiles when I nod. Next thing I see is Sheldon, standing at the top of the stairs wearing his flash t-shirt and trousers. "There you are Shelly! It's not very nice to keep ladies waiting you know" I can't help but giggle at the look on his face as he makes his way down to us. "Smile sheldon, you're going to watch me at Junior Rodeo!" I giggle as I watch him try to smile. "Bye Mrs Cooper!" I say as I take Sheldon's hand and lead him down the path and to my fathers truck.

AaThe ride to junior rodeo was fairly uneventful. My father, Sheldon and I discussed the last football match which surprisingly Sheldon knew lots about but I put it down to him knowing everything, not him really showing an interest because I could kick a football further than him any day. When we arrived I watched as Sheldon crinkled his nose in disgust. "There is an unpleasant smell here" he states and my Dad laughs. "Welcome to Junior Rodeo son, better get used to this smell" I nod and giggles before hopping out of the car, the puddle of mud splattering my boots. I take my fathers hand as we walk to the entrance gate and notice that Sheldon is sulking behind us. "What's up Sheldon? You've been awfully quiet, not you're usual talkative self. Cat got your tongue?"

Sheldon POV

Oh bother, she asked me a question and I was too busy having a wonderful conversation with my brain to realise. "Apologies" I say, looking up at her. She is an extremely pretty little human being even in her junior rodeo costume and her hair, her hair is the nicest shade of blonde. I've never really pictured us as being more than friends and besides she has a relationship with Jack in our grade. Even if I did have any sort of emotional attachment to Penny I wouldn't have a chance when it came to standing up to Jack. It was Penny's sweet voice that stopped my thoughts. "Sheldon, you sit with my Father over there and I'll be out in a bit!" She turns to run off but I grab her arm. "Penny wait!' She turns around to face me and she smiles, then I brace myself and kiss her on the cheek. She blushes and I'm sure I do too. "I forgot to wish you good luck" I blurt out, to break the silence. She nods and then she was gone but just before she disappears she points to her cheek and mouths "Thank-you" I blush and go to sit with her father he hands me a drink and we wait for the show to start.

We're halfway into the junior rodeo competition and Wyatt told me that Penny should be next. I wonder if she's as nervous as me. I don't like to see her get hurt and from my research I know that this is a dangerous sport. The animals are wild and unpredictable, there mood depends on the wind. The boy currently in the ring is thrown onto the floor, proving my last statement. He is cleared out of the arena and the gates open for the next contestant. Penny. I automatically recognise her beautiful blonde hair from under her helmet. She's smiling but I think I see her hands trembling. The whistle is blown and it begins, at first the animal, a small cow or bull I assume, is extremely calm and Penny is in control. Somehow she's still smiling and I know how much she wants to win this. Suddenly the animal stands on his hind legs throwing Penny half way across the arena. She lays there on the floor, completely still and my instinct kicks in. I run down to the arena, across the sand to Penny where I see she's fine, in fact, she's giggling. I offer my hand to her and she uses it to pull herself up. Then without thinking I hug her, I smell her sweet shampoo and start crying. I put this down to me over thinking the situations I could've been right now. About 5 seconds later she pulls away. "Why are you crying you nut, I'm fine!" I smile and then kiss her softly and quickly on the lips. Again something I wouldn't do. What has gotten into me today? "I was worried, I'm glad you're okay Penny. You scared me"

I mumble and use my tissue to dry my tears. "Come on Sheldon, lets go and maybe we can stop at the Comic Book store on the way home." Penny says as she smiles and takes my hand as we walk out of the arena together.

**AN:/Review please! I learnt a lot writing this and I really enjoyed it. Let me know if I should write more/another one shot and leave suggestions. Thanks!-B xox**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I'm back Shenny shippers! I didn't think I was going to write another chapter to this but this idea came to me because my best friend's just left for college early and we're going to write letters to one another. Anyway, enjoy and Happy Reading!-B xxoxx**

**PS: Sorry, I still don't ship Shenny, sorry. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. -cries- **

"I'm gonna' miss you when you're at your big boy college Shelly," Penny says as she runs to Sheldon for a hug, he tenses at first then relaxes and pats her back.

"I will promise to write to you when I have time. I may have limited time because changing the way people look at Physics is a time-consuming task," Sheldon replied, pulling out of the embrace and staring Penny straight in the eyes.

From Penny's past experiences, if a boy looks you straight in the eye he's waiting to kiss you but this is Sheldon Cooper- the boy who squirms at even the slightest physical interactions.

"Let me get your case for you, you may have the brains but you sure as hell don't have the muscle." Penny laughed as she went to get his case which was sitting on his porch.

"I should let you know I have many strong muscles, my strongest being my heart which has always had a steady best," Sheldon explains and Penny rolls her eyes but he doesn't see that. Only Sheldon know that that last statement about his heart wasn't entirely true. Every time he's with Penny he feels like his heart is beating a thousand times a minute and at any moment it would just burst right out of his rib cage- although Sheldon knew that this was biologically impossible.

"I almost forgot, I got a little going away present for you. Don't move." Penny says as she disappears into her house the door closing quietly behind her.

Minutes later she returned with a gift bag in hand. She handed it to him, a wide smile across her face. He gave a half smile and opened it carefully trying not to tear the wrapping. Penny began to lose patience and ripped open the packaging for him and throwing it to the floor. He gazed at the present a comic book. No, it was more than a comic book. On the cover was a signature. Mark Lenard's signature.

To Sheldon,

Live Long and prosper, lil' dude.

Mark Lenard.

"Penny! Spock's father signed my comic book!" Sheldon said bringing the magazine to his chest and hugging it.

"You like it, huh?" Penny asks, laughing at the sight of her best-friend nursing a comic book.

"How did you get it?" Sheldon asks, looking up at Penny and then back down to the signature.

"Anything for my Moonpie," Penny said, almost whispering the word Moonpie, knowing he doesn't really like anyone calling him by it, unless it's his MeeMaw. Sheldon's Vulcan hearing picks up on the word Moonpie and he glares at her.

"Only my MeeMaw call me Moonpie," he says through gritted teeth, his cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink.

Penny sighs and just wraps her arms around Sheldon's tall frame. He hugs her back this time, rubbing her back as his MeeMaw taught him to do. Penny cried softly on his shoulder, she didn't want him to see her cry, he'd just tease her with words she couldn't understand.

From over her shoulder he looked down at his watch and sighed. "It's time I should be going, it's bad enough that I will be known as the youngest, I don't want to be the one who is known for being late on their first day too," he pulled away and walked towards the car, wiping down the seat with an anti-bacterial wipe before sitting down. Penny wiped her tears and laughed slightly. Typical Sheldon.

"I'm going to miss my Moonpie," Penny whispered to herself as she waved goodbye to her best-friend. She felt like a complete idiot. She hasn't even graduated middle school yet and her best friend was already off to a college in Los Angeles. It was right there and then when she realised she wanted to be an actress. When she was done with school she could move over to LA and Perdue that career and hopefully find her Moonpie again.

Later that night Penny was sitting at her Hello-Kitty writing table with a piece of paper and her pink sparkly gel pen. She began to write.

To Shelly,

You've only been gone a few hours and I miss you already! Sorry, I forgot you're not one for feelings. I hope you do well in your new big boy school and if they have tater-tots in the cafeteria have some for me, you know they're my favourite. Mom said I can write to you once a week because stamps are quite expensive and besides I don't want to bother you when you're doing your special science stuff. I have to do my Maths homework now. Have fun Shelly.

Love Penny.

Xxxx

PS: When I'm done with all this stupid school stuff I'm going to move to LA and become a famous actress. Then I can see you again.

Penny mailed the letter the next day and for the next three days when she got home for school she would sit beside the mailbox, waiting for a reply. Two days later, a letter was placed in the mailbox. Penny smiled when she saw Sheldon's writing across the front. Running up to her room she tore open the envelope. She read the letter carefully, trying to understand some of the long words he used.

Dear Penny,

Thank you for writing so soon I know I'm not one for feeling but I must confess that I am suffering from emotional detachment and I miss your presence. College isn't like I expected. Obviously the facilities are great but the people aren't. They're mean to me Penny just because I have a higher IQ than them. Are you asking something of me? This once I will, only because I am quite fond of tater-tots myself. Once a week sounds good.

It would be nice if you took the time to write back.

From

Sheldon Cooper (Moonpie)

PS: Acting? Your career choice, not mine. See you there.

Over the next year they exchanged letters but now the letters were less frequent. With Sheldon working most days and half the night and Penny spending all her nights with her friends and boyfriend at parties and because of this they gradually lost touch. It was summer before Penny received her next letter. She smiled when she saw it but wasn't as excited as she used to be. At the time it arrived her boyfriend, Matt, was round her house but she insisted she open it now.

Dear Penny,

Apologies for the delay in writing back, I've been awfully busy. The life of a now 12 year old theoretical physicist isn't easy. I hope this reaches you before your next birthday, November 30th. Enclosed is a little gift, I was told you would like it. I must go, I have many equations to solve.

From Moonpie.

"Who the hell is Moonpie?" Matt snapped, snatching the letter from Penny's hands.

"An old friend," Penny whispered, completely terrified of Matt.

"An old boyfriend, more like. That's it. We're done," Matt shouts, throwing the letter on the floor and stamping on it before storming out and slamming the door behind him.

He was gone before Penny had the chance to reply. She began to cry, slowly at first, each individual tear sliding down her cheek and onto the floor. Picking up the letter she took off the silver chain necklace that Sheldon had taped to the letter. She admired the silver stone in the middle of it. It truly was beautiful. Now smiling she wrote a reply.

To Moonpie,

It's okay Shelly, I've been busy too but I should be free a lot more from now on because I just broke up with my boyfriend, Matt. He saw your letter and thought we used to date. He left before I could explain. He made me cry Moonpie. Thank you for the necklace I love it. The best early-birthday present ever. Got to go and lay the table for dinner now. Hope you solve your equations-whatever they are.

Love Penny

Xx

For the next week Penny wore the necklace proudly around her neck and when asked who gave it to her she would reply, "My good friend Moonpie." People would laugh at her but she didn't care. It was times like these when Penny missed Sheldon more than ever because although she had lots of friends, none of them were there for her when she needed it the most.

Penny walked home from school on Friday, it had been one of the worst days at school ever. Her best friend was sick and her other friends all ditched school to go to the mall. Sighing, Penny checked the mailbox to find a letter. She couldn't wait until she got up to her room so she opened the letter there and then.

Dear Penny,

So sorry to hear about that, it is a social convention to offer someone tea when they're upset but as I can't bring you tea I'm kind of stuck on how to help you. I'm not good with emotions. No boy is worth it if he makes you cry Penny. He's not worth it. Glad you like it. I'm not one for gift giving but your comic book that you gave me was so special I felt you needed a gift in return. I should be out of college soon, come and visit? Or I can come and see you, either way.

Love Moonpie. X

Penny had to read the last line again. 'Love Moonpie. X.' She couldn't believe it. Maybe it was a silly mistake. No, of course it's not. It's Sheldon Cooper. Sheldon Cooper's never silly. All these thoughts whirred through Penny's head. "Ah, I love you Moonpie," she whispered as she walked back into the house, a skip in her step.

**AN: Bit of a rushed ending but otherwise I'd go on forever! Reviews are lovely. ^-^ -B xoxoxoxox**


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